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Royal birth gives Norway first female heir in six centuries
OSLO (AFP) - Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit has given birth to a baby girl, who is destined to one day become the country's first female monarch since the 15th century.
"She is the prettiest little girl in the whole world," the proud father, Crown Prince Haakon, told reporters. "Both mother and baby are doing well," he added.
The baby girl, whose name was expected to be announced on Thursday, is second only to her father in line to the Norwegian throne, and could become the first woman to become queen since Margrete of Denmark died in 1412.
After the deaths of her husband and her only son, Margrete took the throne of both Denmark and Norway, which were linked together in a union.
Following centuries of male succession, the Norwegian constitution was amended in 1990 and now stipulates that the throne must go to the first born child of the ruling monarch, regardless of the child's sex.
The baby girl is 30-year-old Mette-Marit's second child, but since her seven-year-old son Marius is from a previous relationship, he has no right to the throne.
Crown Prince Haakon drove his wife Mette-Marit to the Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, where they arrived at approximately 4:00 a.m. (0300 GMT).
The newest member of the royal family weighed 3.676 kilos (8.10 pounds) and measured 51 centimeters (20 inches).
At noon, about three hours after the birth, a 21-gun salute announced her arrival in the world, and Norway's red, white and blue flag was flown at official buildings across the country and at diplomatic missions abroad.
The baby's name was expected to be announced on Thursday after a special cabinet meeting, presided over by her father Prince Haakon, who is standing in as regent while his father King Harald recovers from an operation for bladder cancer which he underwent last December.
A number of possible names have circulated in the media, including Ingeborg, Ragnhild, Margrete, Louise, Sofie and Josephine.
"The birth is a historic event, as this is the first time a daughter of Norway's crown prince and crown princess is born to inherit the throne," Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik wrote in a congratulatory note to the baby's parents.
Prince Haakon's older sister, Princess Maertha Louise, is now third in line to the throne, and her daughter, Maud Angelica, born in April last year, is fourth.
Independent Norway, which exited the union with Denmark in 1814 and then left another union with Sweden in 1905, has in fact never been ruled by a female monarch.
Asked whether the young princess would actually reign one day -- in a country where an increasing number of people have called for a republic -- Prince Haakon replied: "I have a talent for certain things but not for predicting the future. It will be up to the Norwegian people."
